New USC coach Sarkisian: 'We can win right now'

Steve Sarkisian addresses the media at Tuesday's news conference introducing him as USC's new football coach at the McKay Center on the school's Los Angeles campus. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER

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USC athletic director Pat Haden, right, welcomes Steve Sarkisian to the podium as he introduces Sarkisian as USC's new football coach at the McKay Center on the school's Los Angeles campus. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER

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Steve Sarkisian, center, is flanked by his wife Stephanie and USC president Max Nikias as Athletic Director Pat Haden speaks to the media before announcing Sarkisian as USC's new football coach at the McKay Center on the school's Los Angeles campus. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER

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USC athletic director Pat Haden addresses the media at Tuesday's news conference introducing Steve Sarkisian as USC's new football coach at the McKay Center on the school's Los Angeles campus. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER

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USC football players Cody Kessler, left, and Josh Shaw attended Tuesday's news conference introducing Steve Sarkisian as USC's new football coach at the McKay Center on the school's Los Angeles campus. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER

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Listening to Athletic Director Pat Haden as he addresses the media are, from right: USC president Max Nikias, Steve Sarkisian, his wife Stephanie and the Sarkisian's three children, Taylor (5), Ashley (10) and Brady (8). ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER

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Steve Sarkisian addresses the media at Tuesday's news conference introducing him as USC's new football coach at the McKay Center on the school's Los Angeles campus. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER

Steve Sarkisian addresses the media at Tuesday's news conference introducing him as USC's new football coach at the McKay Center on the school's Los Angeles campus. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER

LOS ANGELES – Steve Sarkisian stood, basically a Hail Mary pass away from where he slept as a college freshman, and beamed as he contemplated the full-circle journey that brought him back to USC.

“I’m the luckiest guy in the world,’’ Sarkisian said during an introductory news conference Tuesday afternoon. “This is home for me. I am humbled and honored to be the head football coach at the University of Southern California. This place means so much to me. It’s extremely humbling.’’

Equal parts engaging, optimistic and scrappy, Sarkisian went bold with USC athletic director Pat Haden on Sunday, when the two men had a three-hour interview. Sarkisian convinced Haden that he, a coach who has never won more than eight games in a season, can win national championships.

“I didn’t come in with some PowerPoint and a bunch of booklets,” Sarkisian said. “I was being me.”

Sarkisian, 39, received a multi-year contract of unannounced value, and boldly declared that USC, which has a 16-10 record the past two seasons, has the ability to dominate college football again, as it did when Sarkisian served as an assistant to Pete Carroll for seven seasons.

“We are not rebuilding at the University of Southern California. We can win right now,” Sarkisian said. “We will not shy away from the expectations here. We embrace them.”

Sarkisian spoke as his wife, their three children, his parents, Haden, USC president Max Nikias and athletic department staff members, coaches and players were scattered around the auditorium.

It was a homecoming. Sarkisian, a Torrance native, started his college career as a USC freshman baseball player, then thrived as a BYU quarterback and returned to USC three times as an assistant coach.

Now he’s back for what he jokingly called a fifth run. Known as an innovative offensive coach, albeit one with a thin record as a head coach, Sarkisian said he understands the pressure he will be under.

“There is greatness everywhere here,” Sarkisian said. “That’s what makes this university special. That’s what makes this athletic department special and that’s what makes this football program special. The standard has been set, and ultimately we’re going to be judged off the standard that has been set.”

There is some pessimism among USC fans, and lingering disappointment among some players, who felt a strong emotional attachment to Ed Orgeron, the interim coach whom Sarkisian beat out for the job.

Exactly 24 hours earlier, in the same USC auditorium, some players wept when Orgeron told them he was resigning. Haden said he tried to retain Orgeron, and Haden reportedly offered a substantial raise and a higher-profile job title, but Orgeron wasn’t interested. He wants to be a head coach.

Just three players - Cody Kessler, Josh Shaw and Zach Banner - were seen at the news conference. Sarkisian has already started individual meetings with players, and said he would reach out to Orgeron.

“He’s done a great job of embracing us so far,” Shaw said. “He’s easy to like, easy to get along with.”

Haden said he recently gave Orgeron a three-hour job interview, and sought to quell speculation that he didn’t consider Orgeron to be a serious candidate. Haden denied that Orgeron, who went 6-2 after replacing Lane Kiffin on Sept. 29, would have been named coach had he beat UCLA last Saturday.

“A lot of people wanted us to get caught up in a moment of emotion,” said Haden, who pledged to help Orgeron get a head-coaching job. “I hope he goes somewhere and makes me look like an idiot.”

Haden said Sarkisian was the only coach to whom he offered the job, but corrected a media member who intimated that Sarkisian was USC’s first choice. USC considered Texas A&M’s Kevin Sumlin and Boise State’s Chris Petersen, both of whom reportedly decided to stay at their current schools.

Haden said Sarkisian “offered the chance for the smoothest, fastest and cleanest transition to lead our program” and touted Sarkisian as an innovative offensive coach who “resurrected a moribund program” at Washington, where Sarkisian had a 34-29 record in five seasons.

“There were two things that stood out to me about his tenure at Washington,” Haden said. “He inherited an 0-12 team and had them in a bowl game in his second season. Also, in the previous 21 years at Washington, only three previous teams had eight wins, and that's what Sark had this year.”

Sarkisian will not coach USC in its bowl game, likely to be the Dec. 21 Las Vegas Bowl. That job will fall to offensive coordinator Clay Helton, who will become USC’s third coach this season.

The transition will begin immediately, though. Sarkisian said he intends to evaluate and interview all nine of USC’s current assistant coaches and said he has not made any decisions about whether to bring any coaches with him from Washington.

Sarkisian said he will be a presence in recruiting and on campus, but will not run bowl practices or meetings this month. Sarkisian did declare that, once settled, he will install the same type of up-tempo offense that he ran at Washington, and expressed confidence that USC could run it.

“Our offense will be predicated on speed, balance and power,” Sarkisian said. “I have evolved on offense over the years and right now we are a no-huddle offense that will look to run the ball first.”

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